Fears of another European match fixing scandal are growing after claims by a linesman in Spain that he was asked to favour Real Madrid in next month's El Clasico derby with Barcelona, but the allegations could also be related to political tensions in Spain as the Catalan independence movement gathers pace.
The unnamed official told police that he had been approached by another official who said the Spanish refereeing committee was putting pressure on them to favour the Madrid side.
It has also been claimed that a member of the referees' technical committee rang the linesman to warn him that it would be "intelligent" for his career if he followed the instructions.
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Jose Angel Jimenez Munoz de Morales has been named as the official who made the phonecall to the linesman but he has denied the allegations against him. "I have no idea where they come from. It is like something out of a Kafka novel," he said.
"Anti-corruption officials are understood to be taking the claims seriously," reports the Daily Mail. And The Guardian says that Spanish football now "faces a potentially huge match-fixing scandal".
The story, published in Catalan newspaper L'Esportiu, has had a "huge impact" in Spain adds Sid Lowe of the Guardian. The linesman claims he was contacted in September and told that he should influence the game in Madrid's favour as it was easier for a linesman to get away with big calls as they were under less scrutiny than the referee.
The claims add yet another layer of intrigue to the historic rivalry between Real Madrid, once the club of General Franco, and Barcelona, closely associated with the Catalan nationalist movement, says Spanish football expert Gabrielle Marcotti in The Times.
He notes Barcelona "have felt persecuted recently by elements farther up the food chain" after high profile investigations into Lionel Messi's tax affairs and the transfer of Neymar to the Camp Nou. "The question doing the rounds in Catalonia yesterday was whether the authorities would investigate these latest claims with the same zeal with which they went after the Barcelona stars.
"With a referendum for Catalan independence on the horizon, the last thing Spanish football needs is more fuel added to the fire. Rather, what is needed is swift, transparent justice and — if credible evidence is produced — decisive action."
